On October 18, 1968, John Lennon and Yoko Ono are arrested for drug possession at their home near Montagu Square in London, England. The arrests came at a tempestuous time for the couple. Only days earlier, an announcement was made that Ono was pregnant, creating a scandal because both Lennon and Ono were still married to other people. Her pregnancy ended in a miscarriage a few days after the arrest.
Oct. 18, 2013 Associated Press
Three companies behind private juvenile detention and treatment facilities at the heart of a juvenile justice scandal in northeastern Pennsylvania have settled a civil lawsuit for $2.5 million.
The settlement involving claims brought by thousands of juveniles against PA Child Care, Western PA Child Care and Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp. was granted preliminary approval in federal court.
Two former Luzerne County judges are serving lengthy prison terms in connection with the "kids for cash" scandal. Prosecutors say children were locked away in the facilities, often for minor offenses, by judges who took illegal payments from the facilities' builder and co-owner.
The two sides will now ask U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo for final approval.
Former Luzerne County judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. was sentenced to 28 years in prison after he was convicted of racketeering and conspiracy. His former colleague Michael Conahan pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge and was sentenced to more than 17 years. Read More
On October 17, 1835, Texans approve a resolution to create the Texas Rangers, a corps of armed and mounted lawmen designed to guard the frontier between the Brazos and Trinity Rivers.
On October 16, 1991, George Jo Hennard drives his truck through a window in Luby’s Cafeteria in Kileen, Texas, and then opens fire on a lunch crowd, killing 23 and injuring 20. The rampage at the Central Texas restaurant began at approximately 12:45 p.m. and lasted about 15 minutes.
On October 15, 1917, exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad for the crime of espionage. She was born Margueretha Gertruida Zelle in a small town in northern Holland and formerly married to a captain in the Dutch army; Mata Hari had performed in Paris as a dancer since 1903. She adopted an elaborate stage persona, claiming she was born in a sacred Indian temple and taught ancient Indian dances by a priestess who gave her the name Mata Hari, which meant "eye of the dawn." Her exotic dances soon earned her fans all over Europe, where she packed dance halls, largely because of her willingness to dance almost entirely naked in public.
Scene of the Amityville murders
On October 14, 1975, the murder trial of Ronald DeFeo Jr. began. DeFeo was accused of killings his parents and four siblings in their Amityville, New York home. The family’s house was later said to be haunted and served as the inspiration for the Amityville Horror book and movies.
On October 12, 2002, three bombings shatter the peace on the island of Bali. The blasts, the work of militant Islamist terrorists, left 202 people dead and more than 200 others injured. The attacks shocked residents and those familiar with the mostly Hindu island, long known as a tranquil and friendly island paradise.
On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the city’s firefighters. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick O’Connor, the facts—or a lack of them—didn’t add up. Justice on Fire is OConnor’s detailed account of the terrible explosion that led to the firefighters’ deaths and the terrible injustice that followed. Also available from Amazon
